- In the third year of Bupa's eco-Disruptive programme, thousands of employees voted for Spanish start-up UniSCool to drive climate and health action
- UniSCool has pioneered a liquid cooling solution which reduces the energy use of electrical appliances including medical equipment
- The start-up will receive £200,0001 to further develop their product
Bupa, the international healthcare company, has announced UniSCool, a Spanish start-up pioneering an innovative liquid cooling solution, as the winner of its talent development and sustainability innovation programme following a vote across its 82,000 global workforce.
The third year of Bupa's eco-Disruptive programme has involved employees collaborating with start-ups from around the world to develop solutions that support the company's sustainability ambitions, while also learning about agile working, problem-solving and disruptive technologies.
Over 1,000 businesses were whittled down to a shortlist of six finalists at the end of November, with Iñaki Ereño, Bupa's Group CEO, announcing UniSCool as the most voted for winner during a live-streamed event this week.
The start-up has been awarded £200,000 to invest in their solution and will continue to work with Bupa employees to drive sustainability action. In addition to this, the UniSCool team will receive tailored support from Plug and Play, the world's largest innovation platform, which involves mentoring and investor meetings to support start-up growth and scaling up, and an opportunity to pitch their business at Plug and Play's Summer Summit in Silicon Valley.
Iñaki Ereño, Bupa's Group CEO, said: “Accelerating our ambitions to create a healthier and more sustainable future requires collaboration, innovation, and disruptive solutions. We know we don't have all the answers and that's why we love to work with these impressive, determined start-ups and share learnings to help each other.
“This year, employees have formed relationships with another exceptionally strong group of entrepreneurs through our eco-Disruptive initiative, and I'm sure that we will continue to work with many of these businesses to further grow, network, and accelerate climate and health action.”
Start-ups that apply for the eco-Disruptive programme must address one of the key challenges within Bupa's sustainability strategy – ranging from decarbonising operations to creating buildings that support healthcare, wellbeing and the environment.
UniSCool have developed a liquid cooling solution which cools the hot spots on microchips by extracting the heat generated quickly and efficiently. Employees have worked closely to understand how this solution could help reduce electricity usage of appliances within Bupa buildings. The technology also has the potential to increase the performance and life of medical equipment.
As part of Bupa's ambition to accelerate the development of innovative sustainability technologies, all start-ups that participated in the 2023 eco-Disruptive programme will be able to benefit from the Plug and Play ecosystem, including networking and business opportunities.
1 £200,000 or local currency equivalent
About Bupa
Bupa's purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world. We are an international healthcare company serving over 43 million customers worldwide. With no shareholders, we reinvest profits into providing more and better healthcare for the benefit of current and future customers. We directly employ around 82,000 people, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, Chile, Poland, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Türkiye, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Middle East and Ireland. We also have associate businesses in Saudi Arabia and India.
About the eco-Disruptive programme
The eco-Disruptive programme was first launched in 2021 and is now in its third year, running across countries or regions where Bupa operates including Australia, Spain, UK, New Zealand, and Hong Kong, and invites all employees globally to follow progress and vote on the finalists.
This initiative is part of Bupa's sustainability strategy which recognises that it's not possible to look after people's health without addressing the health of the planet.
Our sustainability strategy
As a healthcare company we have an important role in addressing climate change, and a responsibility to act now. Our sustainability strategy has a clear net zero goal by 2040 underpinned by 1.5 degree aligned Science Based Targets (SBT) validated by the SBT initiative (SBTi), and an interim scope 1&2 2025 target. To set credible and ambitious targets we joined the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign, aligning our plans to tackle emissions with the Paris Agreement.
